Breaking point
16/07/09
6:20 PM
Faultline
MiMi’s Apartment
MiMi stood in shower and took another slug from the bottle of whiskey. The water had gone cold long ago, not that it mattered. She felt dirty. No mater how hard she scrubbed, no matter how long she stood under the water, she couldn’t feel clean.
She had been called out to the Rogue Isles to aid one of Recluses minions. She was ashamed to admit that it felt good cutting lose after so long in Paragon… but that good feeling ended when she started killing… no, it hadn’t ended, it had become more intense.
It was sickening how easily she had willingly ended so many lives. She kept telling herself that she didn’t pull her blows because there where others watching her, but she knew the truth. She didn’t pull her punches because she didn’t want to… the realisation twisted in her gut on the trip back to Paragon. She felt like scum, dirty, filthy… so unclean.
She stumbled out of the shower, only dimly remembering to turn it off, and looked at her refection in the mirror. Her reflection Glared with a look of self hatred and disgust back at her. She grabbed the sink and tried to stare back, she could feel excuses and words of denial die in her throat. The Gaze striped away everything, leaving her with a simple truth. As much as she pretend, as much as she wanted to think otherwise, she was built for one thing and one thing alone.
To kill.
MiMi snarled at her reflection and smashed her hands against it, shattering it into thousands of accusing stares. She let out another snarl and bought the whisky bottle down on them like a club. She slammed it again and again till the bottle broke, leaving her with just the neck. Still the fragments glared back, their expression so hateful.
MiMi stagers out of the bathroom and bumped into the couch. She felt angry, so angry. Why was this happening, what did she do to deserve this? She saw her refection on the TV its lips moved and she knew what it was saying. You were made for one thing and one thing only… Killing.
MiMi let out an animistic screech and threw the remains of the bottle at it. The image shattered, as the remains of the screen hit the floor MiMi slammed her foot into the back of the couch, sending it toppling over the coffee table. She felt rage burning through her, bubbling up until she couldn’t contain it. Letting out another primal scream, she lashed out at the couch with all her might nearly snapping it in half.
She started to tear the room to shreds, anything in her path became another outlet for her rage, picture frames, bookshelves, anything that she could reach was destroyed. A small portion of herself recoiled in horror at her onslaught, but its voice was drowned out by wave upon wave of rage.
---
7:20 PM
Jack exited the elevator and made his way down the hall to Milissa’s apartment, it always struck him as odd that she was the only tenant for this floor, but then not many people were willing to live in an area were Vazhilok and Lost openly walked the street’s. He really should talk to her about moving some were safer.
He was half way to her apartment when he heard a scream, without a second thought he flew the rest of the way. Stoping in front of Milissa’s door he grabbed the handle and rattled it. Locked.
There was another scream and the sound of something heavy smashing against the floor. Jack grabbed the door and ripped it from the hinges, his mind trying not to think of what could be happening to Milissa.
He stepped into the apartment, the only light came from a flickering neon sign across the street. In the erratic flashes he could make out a scene of carnage, the room looked like a bomb had gone off. He step further into the room and felt something crush under his foot.
Kneeling down he picked up the remains of a painting, he could just make it out as a watercolour Milissa had done just after they started dating. He knelt on the floor, fear filling him. What had happened? Where was Milissa?
He heard a noise and spun around, his second question answer as Milissa staggered out of the apartment’s kitchenette. He slowly stood up and let out a shocked gasp as the light flickered to reveal she was naked, holding a bottle in one hand.
“Oh… hello… di..di.. didn’t espect to see you here.” She slurred and as walked over to him, moving like a puppet with its strings cut. “And... here I am... with nothink to wears.” She staggered up to jack and wrapped her arms around him. “imaghin that.”
Jack's mind locked, trying to process all the information at once. On one hand, here was his girlfriend, whom he had feelings for and had featured prominently in some very intense dreams he had had of late, pressing her naked body against him. On the other hand, her breath stank of whiskey and gin, and her apartment looked like someone had dropped a fragmentation grenade in the middle of it.
“Mi... Milissa, what happened?” he stammered.
“You don’t wantsh to talks about that… not when there are better thinksh to do.” She slurred into his ear.
“Milissa... are you okay?”
“Come on Jacksh, don’ts you want to?” she left the question hanging.
Jack gently pushed her away. “Milissa, what’s got into you?”
“Nothings… yet”
She tried to press against him again, he was about to push her back when she collapsed in to his arms. He carefully shook her but it became clear she was out of it, Jack gently laid her on the floor and was about to wipe hand across his brow when he noticed another smell, it has been masked before but now he could smell it clearly… Blood.
Eyes widening in horror he looked over Milissa, ignoring the fact that’s she was naked, and started assessing her wounds. Their was fragments of glass and wood in her left arm all the way to her elbows, her right arms synthetic flesh looked like someone had taken a knife to it, her legs where covered in small gashes and bruises while her feet… jack felt his stomach roll, her feet look as if she had stepped on razor wire… amongst the blood he could just make out bits of glass and wood.
It slowly dawned on him, all the destruction, Milissa had been the cause of it. He scooped her up into his arms and headed to the bathroom. He awkwardly draped a towel on the floor and set her down. It took him a moment to find were she kept her medical supplies, it didn’t take long to find a well stocked first aid kit.
Placing it on the floor, he looked over her again. “Oh god Milissa… what did you do.” He muttered as he got to work treating her injures.
---
9:37 AM
There are two known times that light can hit a human being so hard that it not only provides light, but sound as well. The first is in an army training barracks. The reason they do this is simple: they are designed to, so the soldiers-in-training lose the ability to oversleep. The second is when you are hung over, and the senses become so hyper aware that even light makes noise. It is the latter experience that is MiMi's first conscious event when she wakes up in the morning: the light from a sunbeam hitting her so hard she could hear it. Instinctively, she sat up and blocked the light with her hand. Unfortunately, her body wasn't quite ready for her to move yet, and the end result was that MiMi suddenly felt quite ill.
She rolled out of bed and rushed to the bathroom, she managed to get to the toilet before her stomach rebelled at al the stress she put it through last night. When it finally felt she had nothing left to throw up she slumped to the floor. Only now did she realise she was dress in a lose tee shirt and pair of shorts, also… some one had bandaged her arm and feet. Images of last night started to emerge like bubbles of gas in a swamp.
She felt her stomach roll again, but it was a false alarm, she seriously doubted that she had anything left to throw up. Getting up she started the shower running and striped off, her cloths reeked like something from the Golems locker room. Stepping under the hot water she let out a sigh, last night… god… last night had been a mess, she couldn’t remember ever being so angry before… not even when she though Dark Fusionnette had ruined things between her and Jack. As more memories surfaced, she felt a mounting dread… what would Jack do if he found out?
The water no longer seemed all that warm, stepping out she turned it off and went to grab a towel. Huh, wasn’t there three of them here yesterday… must of trashed them to. Sighing she headed out into the lounge, there was bound to be some more in the linen cupboard. She was almost to the cupboard when she heard a strangled gasp from the kitchenette, turning slowly she saw Jack sitting at the small table, cup of coffee halfway to his mouth.
She stood there for several seconds till her brain pointed out that she was naked, with a shriek she bolted back to the bathroom and slammed the door behind her. After a few seconds she heard a knock as Jack called out. “Milissa? It’s Jack… are you decent?”
“No” she called back.
“Oh… I’ll wait then.” Jack replied, she could almost hear him blushing.
“Err… you might be waiting for a bit Jack, I don’t have a towel or clean change of cloths in here.”
“Oh… um, do you have any spares?”
“Theirs a linen closet near the front door, I think I have a few spares in there.”
She heard Jack head off and a few seconds latter there was a knock at the door. She opened it enough to take the towel from him and carefully closed it again. As she dried off, several things came to her attention, for starters… where was all the stuff she broke last night? And what was Jack doing here? She had a feeling that the two answers were linked… and that she wouldn’t like the answer for either of them.
Warping the towel around her she opened the door and looked out, Jack was back in the kitchen by the sounds of it, she quickly made her way back to the bedroom and got changed before heading in to the kitchen.
Jack was sitting down at the table with a serious look on his face. As MiMi sat down he passed her a cup of coffee. “Milissa, we… we need to talk.” He said.
MiMi felt a stone form in her gut. “a-a-about what?” she stammered.
Jack took a deep sigh before continuing. “I think you have a problem. And I believe his name is also Jack… Jack Daniels… and Jim Beam... and Captain Morgan... and Jose Cuervo.”
She flinched away. “I…I don’t know what you were talking about.” She couldn’t bring herself to met his gaze
“Mimi…when I can around last night…it sounded like you were being attacked…I came in and found a mess…with you bleeding naked in the middle of it.”
MiMi squirmed in her seat. “But…it wasn’t…I mean.” Jack cut her off.
“Mimi, how much of last night do you remember?”
“…Not much really.”
“So you don’t remember breaking the bathroom mirror? Or destroying nearly every piece of furniture in the lounge?” He decided not to mention her trying to come on to him; she looked like she was having enough trouble coming to grips with everything else.
MiMi just stared down at her cup, trembling slightly. “I…I was in a bad mood...I.”
Jack got up and stepped around the table. “Mimi… that wasn’t a bad mood, that kind of self destructive behavior shows some kind of serious issue. I don’t know if it’s family or work or what....but I think you need to see someone...and stop trying to solve things with a bottle.”
MiMi squirmed in her seat. “It’s not that bad…it’s not like I do it all the time.”
Jack placed a hand on her shoulder. “No...but next time could be worse…I might not be there next time…heck, I was only here this time because I was going to see if you wanted to go to a movie. Mimi, what ever your going through…you not alone, I can get you help.”
Jack caught Mimi’s gazing at a draw he had gone thought last night. “It’s gone, Mimi. I flushed what was left after your binge last night down the commode.”
“… All of it?”
“Yes, you almost had enough to stock a small liquor store… and most of them were half empty. I also talked to the owner of the local liquor store. He won’t be selling to you any more.”
“What?”
“Well, he owed the Patriot a few favors from stopping robberies, so I asked him not to sell to you. He agreed.”
MiMi slumped down in her chair, tears trickling down her face. “..I… I.” she tried to say something but couldn’t, burying her face in her hands started to cry. Jack pulled her into a fierce hug.
“It’s okay Mimi, let it out.” he whispered to her. "it's okay."
16/07/09
6:20 PM
Faultline
MiMi’s Apartment
MiMi stood in shower and took another slug from the bottle of whiskey. The water had gone cold long ago, not that it mattered. She felt dirty. No mater how hard she scrubbed, no matter how long she stood under the water, she couldn’t feel clean.
She had been called out to the Rogue Isles to aid one of Recluses minions. She was ashamed to admit that it felt good cutting lose after so long in Paragon… but that good feeling ended when she started killing… no, it hadn’t ended, it had become more intense.
It was sickening how easily she had willingly ended so many lives. She kept telling herself that she didn’t pull her blows because there where others watching her, but she knew the truth. She didn’t pull her punches because she didn’t want to… the realisation twisted in her gut on the trip back to Paragon. She felt like scum, dirty, filthy… so unclean.
She stumbled out of the shower, only dimly remembering to turn it off, and looked at her refection in the mirror. Her reflection Glared with a look of self hatred and disgust back at her. She grabbed the sink and tried to stare back, she could feel excuses and words of denial die in her throat. The Gaze striped away everything, leaving her with a simple truth. As much as she pretend, as much as she wanted to think otherwise, she was built for one thing and one thing alone.
To kill.
MiMi snarled at her reflection and smashed her hands against it, shattering it into thousands of accusing stares. She let out another snarl and bought the whisky bottle down on them like a club. She slammed it again and again till the bottle broke, leaving her with just the neck. Still the fragments glared back, their expression so hateful.
MiMi stagers out of the bathroom and bumped into the couch. She felt angry, so angry. Why was this happening, what did she do to deserve this? She saw her refection on the TV its lips moved and she knew what it was saying. You were made for one thing and one thing only… Killing.
MiMi let out an animistic screech and threw the remains of the bottle at it. The image shattered, as the remains of the screen hit the floor MiMi slammed her foot into the back of the couch, sending it toppling over the coffee table. She felt rage burning through her, bubbling up until she couldn’t contain it. Letting out another primal scream, she lashed out at the couch with all her might nearly snapping it in half.
She started to tear the room to shreds, anything in her path became another outlet for her rage, picture frames, bookshelves, anything that she could reach was destroyed. A small portion of herself recoiled in horror at her onslaught, but its voice was drowned out by wave upon wave of rage.
---
7:20 PM
Jack exited the elevator and made his way down the hall to Milissa’s apartment, it always struck him as odd that she was the only tenant for this floor, but then not many people were willing to live in an area were Vazhilok and Lost openly walked the street’s. He really should talk to her about moving some were safer.
He was half way to her apartment when he heard a scream, without a second thought he flew the rest of the way. Stoping in front of Milissa’s door he grabbed the handle and rattled it. Locked.
There was another scream and the sound of something heavy smashing against the floor. Jack grabbed the door and ripped it from the hinges, his mind trying not to think of what could be happening to Milissa.
He stepped into the apartment, the only light came from a flickering neon sign across the street. In the erratic flashes he could make out a scene of carnage, the room looked like a bomb had gone off. He step further into the room and felt something crush under his foot.
Kneeling down he picked up the remains of a painting, he could just make it out as a watercolour Milissa had done just after they started dating. He knelt on the floor, fear filling him. What had happened? Where was Milissa?
He heard a noise and spun around, his second question answer as Milissa staggered out of the apartment’s kitchenette. He slowly stood up and let out a shocked gasp as the light flickered to reveal she was naked, holding a bottle in one hand.
“Oh… hello… di..di.. didn’t espect to see you here.” She slurred and as walked over to him, moving like a puppet with its strings cut. “And... here I am... with nothink to wears.” She staggered up to jack and wrapped her arms around him. “imaghin that.”
Jack's mind locked, trying to process all the information at once. On one hand, here was his girlfriend, whom he had feelings for and had featured prominently in some very intense dreams he had had of late, pressing her naked body against him. On the other hand, her breath stank of whiskey and gin, and her apartment looked like someone had dropped a fragmentation grenade in the middle of it.
“Mi... Milissa, what happened?” he stammered.
“You don’t wantsh to talks about that… not when there are better thinksh to do.” She slurred into his ear.
“Milissa... are you okay?”
“Come on Jacksh, don’ts you want to?” she left the question hanging.
Jack gently pushed her away. “Milissa, what’s got into you?”
“Nothings… yet”
She tried to press against him again, he was about to push her back when she collapsed in to his arms. He carefully shook her but it became clear she was out of it, Jack gently laid her on the floor and was about to wipe hand across his brow when he noticed another smell, it has been masked before but now he could smell it clearly… Blood.
Eyes widening in horror he looked over Milissa, ignoring the fact that’s she was naked, and started assessing her wounds. Their was fragments of glass and wood in her left arm all the way to her elbows, her right arms synthetic flesh looked like someone had taken a knife to it, her legs where covered in small gashes and bruises while her feet… jack felt his stomach roll, her feet look as if she had stepped on razor wire… amongst the blood he could just make out bits of glass and wood.
It slowly dawned on him, all the destruction, Milissa had been the cause of it. He scooped her up into his arms and headed to the bathroom. He awkwardly draped a towel on the floor and set her down. It took him a moment to find were she kept her medical supplies, it didn’t take long to find a well stocked first aid kit.
Placing it on the floor, he looked over her again. “Oh god Milissa… what did you do.” He muttered as he got to work treating her injures.
---
9:37 AM
There are two known times that light can hit a human being so hard that it not only provides light, but sound as well. The first is in an army training barracks. The reason they do this is simple: they are designed to, so the soldiers-in-training lose the ability to oversleep. The second is when you are hung over, and the senses become so hyper aware that even light makes noise. It is the latter experience that is MiMi's first conscious event when she wakes up in the morning: the light from a sunbeam hitting her so hard she could hear it. Instinctively, she sat up and blocked the light with her hand. Unfortunately, her body wasn't quite ready for her to move yet, and the end result was that MiMi suddenly felt quite ill.
She rolled out of bed and rushed to the bathroom, she managed to get to the toilet before her stomach rebelled at al the stress she put it through last night. When it finally felt she had nothing left to throw up she slumped to the floor. Only now did she realise she was dress in a lose tee shirt and pair of shorts, also… some one had bandaged her arm and feet. Images of last night started to emerge like bubbles of gas in a swamp.
She felt her stomach roll again, but it was a false alarm, she seriously doubted that she had anything left to throw up. Getting up she started the shower running and striped off, her cloths reeked like something from the Golems locker room. Stepping under the hot water she let out a sigh, last night… god… last night had been a mess, she couldn’t remember ever being so angry before… not even when she though Dark Fusionnette had ruined things between her and Jack. As more memories surfaced, she felt a mounting dread… what would Jack do if he found out?
The water no longer seemed all that warm, stepping out she turned it off and went to grab a towel. Huh, wasn’t there three of them here yesterday… must of trashed them to. Sighing she headed out into the lounge, there was bound to be some more in the linen cupboard. She was almost to the cupboard when she heard a strangled gasp from the kitchenette, turning slowly she saw Jack sitting at the small table, cup of coffee halfway to his mouth.
She stood there for several seconds till her brain pointed out that she was naked, with a shriek she bolted back to the bathroom and slammed the door behind her. After a few seconds she heard a knock as Jack called out. “Milissa? It’s Jack… are you decent?”
“No” she called back.
“Oh… I’ll wait then.” Jack replied, she could almost hear him blushing.
“Err… you might be waiting for a bit Jack, I don’t have a towel or clean change of cloths in here.”
“Oh… um, do you have any spares?”
“Theirs a linen closet near the front door, I think I have a few spares in there.”
She heard Jack head off and a few seconds latter there was a knock at the door. She opened it enough to take the towel from him and carefully closed it again. As she dried off, several things came to her attention, for starters… where was all the stuff she broke last night? And what was Jack doing here? She had a feeling that the two answers were linked… and that she wouldn’t like the answer for either of them.
Warping the towel around her she opened the door and looked out, Jack was back in the kitchen by the sounds of it, she quickly made her way back to the bedroom and got changed before heading in to the kitchen.
Jack was sitting down at the table with a serious look on his face. As MiMi sat down he passed her a cup of coffee. “Milissa, we… we need to talk.” He said.
MiMi felt a stone form in her gut. “a-a-about what?” she stammered.
Jack took a deep sigh before continuing. “I think you have a problem. And I believe his name is also Jack… Jack Daniels… and Jim Beam... and Captain Morgan... and Jose Cuervo.”
She flinched away. “I…I don’t know what you were talking about.” She couldn’t bring herself to met his gaze
“Mimi…when I can around last night…it sounded like you were being attacked…I came in and found a mess…with you bleeding naked in the middle of it.”
MiMi squirmed in her seat. “But…it wasn’t…I mean.” Jack cut her off.
“Mimi, how much of last night do you remember?”
“…Not much really.”
“So you don’t remember breaking the bathroom mirror? Or destroying nearly every piece of furniture in the lounge?” He decided not to mention her trying to come on to him; she looked like she was having enough trouble coming to grips with everything else.
MiMi just stared down at her cup, trembling slightly. “I…I was in a bad mood...I.”
Jack got up and stepped around the table. “Mimi… that wasn’t a bad mood, that kind of self destructive behavior shows some kind of serious issue. I don’t know if it’s family or work or what....but I think you need to see someone...and stop trying to solve things with a bottle.”
MiMi squirmed in her seat. “It’s not that bad…it’s not like I do it all the time.”
Jack placed a hand on her shoulder. “No...but next time could be worse…I might not be there next time…heck, I was only here this time because I was going to see if you wanted to go to a movie. Mimi, what ever your going through…you not alone, I can get you help.”
Jack caught Mimi’s gazing at a draw he had gone thought last night. “It’s gone, Mimi. I flushed what was left after your binge last night down the commode.”
“… All of it?”
“Yes, you almost had enough to stock a small liquor store… and most of them were half empty. I also talked to the owner of the local liquor store. He won’t be selling to you any more.”
“What?”
“Well, he owed the Patriot a few favors from stopping robberies, so I asked him not to sell to you. He agreed.”
MiMi slumped down in her chair, tears trickling down her face. “..I… I.” she tried to say something but couldn’t, burying her face in her hands started to cry. Jack pulled her into a fierce hug.
“It’s okay Mimi, let it out.” he whispered to her. "it's okay."